Prosecutor should cool hot fight in Ketchum
The Blaine County Prosecutor should move quickly to bring an end to the lunacy that has infected Ketchum City Hall.
Prosecutor Jim Thomas should bring the power of calm logic and plain reading of the law to bear on a situation that has escalated into a hot and petty political war
The problem with this petty war is that all the money and power are on the side of Mayor Ed Simon.
Simon has thrown the power of the city?s purse, its in-house legal counsel and political clout into an effort to drive Councilman Randy Hall from office, or force him to resign as a volunteer fireman--now referred to by the city as a ?part-time, paid, on-call firefighter.?
To avoid being forced out without a whimper, Hall had to retain private legal counsel at his own expense.
Simon was clearly peeved earlier in the summer when Hall turned down a full-time job as a paramedic with the Ketchum Fire Department. Hall had received a grant, partially funded by the city, to pursue paramedic training.
When the mayor and a brand new city attorney, armed with an Attorney General?s opinion that they solicited, couldn?t nail Hall with a violation of the state?s Ethics in Government law, they tried a new tactic. They turned to the state?s Bribery and Corruption Law, which allows them to ask the county prosecutor to investigate whether Hall should be charged with a misdemeanor.
The attacks have brought distress and disruption to meetings of the City Council, which are spreading throughout City Hall. They are distracting the council and city staff from a long list of real needs and issues that need attention.
On that list: a proposed trade of the city-owned Town Square for a parking lot, annexation and development of Warm Springs Ranch and Golf Course, and annexation and development of Sun Valley Company property at River Run, completion of a new Skate Park, and completion of the Warm Springs bike path project.
In addition, a long list of needed capital improvements has been languishing before the city for the past two years?with the City Council unable to establish a set of priorities for even the simplest of needs, like sidewalks.
The last thing Ketchum needed was open warfare between its mayor and a councilman?especially one in which the mayor hides behinds his wet-behind-the-ears city attorney as he launches legal missiles.
Each time the mayor has been asked to clarify the situation in public, he refers questions to the city attorney?on the job for barely more than a month with no previous experience as a city attorney.
Before launching the attack, the mayor, who was once recalled from his seat as councilman, should have realized that there would be no winners in an open battle, only losers?the biggest of which are Ketchum residents forced to watch the proceedings at the same time critical issues go begging.
The mayor had quieter, more reasonable avenues?including a lot more legal research, research into similar situations in other Idaho communities, and some critical thinking--that could and should have been pursued before he declared all-out political war.
The prosecutor may decide only the question of whether or not to prosecute Hall, but he should go further and do what the mayor has not: Put aside heat in favor of light and present a clear and thoughtful explanation for his decision.
